![](\"https:\/\/christiantoday-4cf9.kxcdn.com\/en\/full\/82838\/angus-cameron.png?w=380&h=381&l=37&t=39\")
Police Scotland are to pay thousands of pounds in damages to a street preacher who was arrested and detained in Glasgow in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Angus Cameron, pastor of Cumnock Baptist Church, was told by the arresting officer that a complaint had been made about “homophobic language”, a claim he strenuously denied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was searched on the street in front of members of the public, handcuffed and told he was being arrested for “breach of the peace with homophobic aggrevation”.<\/p>\n
He was then held in the back of a van for over an hour before being released and told that the matter would be dealt with “in due course”, said The Christian Institute which provided legal assistance to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Cameron received a phone call from the arresting officer two days later telling him that he would not be prosecuted but that a ‘non-crime hate incident report’ had been logged against his name in the police database, despite no crime being committed.<\/p>\n
He has now won\u00a0\u00a35,500 for his unlawful detention by Police Scotland, as well as \u00a39,400 in legal costs, but has decided to donate the amount in full to The Christian Institute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The organisation said that the logging of a ‘non-crime hate incident report’ amounted to a “shadow” over the Mr Cameron’s good name in police records.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Institute’s Deputy Director for Public Affairs Simon Calvert welcomed the settlement.<\/p>\n
“His preaching was not targeting individuals; he did not use offensive language; he was not aggressive; he did not try to cause offence; he simply quoted the Bible. There was no criminality at all,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He continued, “We were pleased to be able to help Angus bring a legal action and we believe it was because of the strength of his legal claim that the police were forced to reach an out-of-court legal settlement and pay damages and legal costs.<\/p>\n
“In addition, we were able to get all reference to this unsubstantiated ‘non-crime’ deleted from Police Scotland’s records.”<\/p>\n
Police Scotland recently announced it was reviewing its policy on the controversial recording of non-crime hate incidents after figures released in December revealed that more than 3,800 had been recorded in a single year – more than the number of genuine hate crimes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Calvert welcomed the review and said that The Christian Institute hoped to contribute “constructively” to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We can act as a bridge between the police and street preachers in this vexed area,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In light of Angus’s case and Police Scotland’s announcement of a review, we will be contacting them, and offering any constructive help and assistance that we can provide.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n